EP Review by Adam Foster
I swear that I listened to the EP – and wrote half this review – before I read the accompanying press release.
My first note on the title track RUN LIKE A GUN was “Elvis Costello (Pump It Up) meets Supergrass (Alright)”. Nothing odd there: and, with lyrics like “You gotta run just like a gun / And never stop having fun…” it is not difficult to summon the ghost of Supergrass. Reading the press release, it transpires that in recent times Rocket Science had supported the monkey-faced ones on tour. Small world. Never mind the questionable lyrics: How does a gun run? How much fun does it have in doing it? Nonetheless, an enjoyable romp for its three minute duration, if quickly forgettable.
The other tracks on the EP pre-date RUN LIKE A GUN – and, surprisingly, sound a lot less like Gaz and the boys. Perhaps they pre-date the support slot. BURN IN HELL is more Rocky Horror than The Damned (“I’d like to burn in Hell / I’ve got my soul to sell”), and actually has overtones of a bad 60’s soundtrack – the part where people dance embarrassingly before having sex. COPYCAT is Blur (Parklife) meets the Stranglers (Rok It To The Moon or Death & Night & Blood). 6’4” is more in this vein: Dave Vanian meets the Attractions while Dave Greenfield blasts away on the Hammond (this riff straight from “Down in the Sewer”.)
Partly this is a function of having a keyboard-led new wave sound; partly it is a function of listening too closely to other people. The EP is a lot of fun: the soon-to-be-released LP should test the Rocket’s ability to turn that into something more lasting and original.
